


Fuller House: Reunions

by comixgirl



Series: Burned [6]
Category: Fuller House (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-16 15:42:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28584432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comixgirl/pseuds/comixgirl
Summary: Set after the events of Fuller House: Burned.  The title says it all.
Relationships: Jackson Fuller/Original Character(s), Jackson Fuller/Rocki
Series: Burned [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1862437
Comments: 4
Kudos: 1





	Fuller House: Reunions

~ May 29, 2037 16:15 hrs~

Forty minutes had passed since Rocki had pulled up in the SUV and rescued Chloe from her captors per Jackson's instructions. Rocki didn't really have a lot of time to converse with Jackson about things pertaining to his home as he was too busy preparing for his face off with his former boss. Rocki did learn that the SUV she had used to rescue Chloe in apparently belonged to Jackson himself. Chloe informed him during their small talk that shortly after taking up residence in Arizona that Jackson had purchased it. Chloe tells Rocki that her cousin, and Rocki's one time friend, Charlie Donovan maintains Jackson's house and vehicle. Jackson apparently set up an account for Charlie to use to pay for a monthly house cleaning and he maintains the SUV himself. When they were at a safe distance, Rocki had Chloe switch places with her and instructed her to drive around town, not going to any location she might normally go to, before they were to return to Jackson's home, just to be safe. Chloe asked why she needed to do this and Rocki simply answered it was Jackson's instructions and since she was unfamiliar with the area it was up to Chloe to drive.

After driving around the city for the allotted amount of time they made sure that they were not being followed, the pair drove back to Jackson's home. Rocki had Chloe drive around the block once, just to check if any strange vehicles were in the area (again, per Jackson's instruction). Chloe pressed the button on the remote control for the garage and watched as the garage door moved up and stopped when the door was fully open. Chloe took note of the blue convertible sports car currently on the left side of the garage as she takes her foot off the brake and carefully pulls the SUV into its parking spot, like she had many times over the period of time she lived in this very house. Once the vehicle is in place she presses the garage door button again and shuts down the engine to the SUV. Rocki opens the glovebox and pulls out a Sig Sauer P229R. She holds it out by the barrel to her friend. The weapon is currently unloaded and the slide is locked back.

"Jackson says he showed you how to use one of these." Rocki says.

Chloe takes the weapon in her right hand and holds out her left hand to Rocki indicating she wants the pistol magazine. Rocki hands the magazine to Chloe who locks it into place and presses the slide release. The metal slide moves forward making an audible clink as it has chambered a round into the barrel. "Yes he did... for my own safety he said." Chloe explained.

Rocki pulls out a Sig Sauer of her own. Chloe had not noticed that Rocki was wearing a shoulder holster and the weapon had been under her left arm the entire time. Chloe watched as Rocki chambered a round by pulling back on the slide and letting it go. The slide returned to the forward position made the same sound as her weapon had. "Yeah, he spent the last two months working with me on my marksmanship. Luckily we currently live in a very open area." Rocki informed the other woman.

Chloe walks over to the control panel and locks the remote access to the garage door. She then enters the alarm code and Rocki watches as the system shuts down and the door to the garage door unlocks.

"So you've had the code to his house all this time?" Rocki asks quite shocked.

"I'll be honest, I'm surprised this code still works. He must not have had Charlie change the code after the last incident." Chloe tells the dark haired young woman.

"Incident? What incident?" Rocki asks.

Before Chloe can answer they are alerted to the sound of digital tones at the front door. The two women are on alert as Jackson had informed Rocki that he would call before he entered the house. Chloe whispered that she would move the master bed hallway and for Rocki to wait here. Chloe dart across the hall and planted her back against the wall while Rocki hugged the wall in her side hallway, Sig Sauer P239 pointed at the wall where the incoming footsteps would shortly be at. The foot steps stopped and the two women heard a click, but it wasn't for a weapon, it was for a flashlight. The beam of light was moving about but the two women had seen it so they knew where not to be and now had an idea of how tall the person who had entered the house was.

The figure paused, the two women heard the figure take a breath and then move to the opening of the side hallways. The person was armed and Rocki found herself facing off against a man taller than herself, about Jackson's height she figured, pointing a pistol at her. The flashlight was blinding and Rocki had to turn her head slightly but kept her weapon pointed at the man's center mass.

"Drop your weapon." The male voice stated. Rocki heard the person cock the hammer on his firearm as it is aimed at her chest.

Chloe came around the corner and aimed at the shadowed figure. "No... You drop it." She orders. Chloe could not see the person's face, only their silhouette. The situation was tense, but no one was giving an inch. Only after a few moments did Chloe think she saw the unknown person ease up a bit.

"Chloe?" The voice asks without turning his head away from his first target.

"Yeah..." Chloe answered but did not lower her weapon.

"Dammit Chloe... you two scared the hell out of me... again." The voice yells.

Chloe de-cocks the hammer on her pistol at that statement as she thinks she knows who is in the house. "Charlie?" Chloe questions just to make sure its him.

"Yes, Charlie. You know, your cousin." Charlie responds.

"Charlie... Charlie Donovan?" Rocki questioned.

Rocki takes her finger off the trigger, decocks the hammer on her pistol, and slowly raises her pistol into the air. The dark haired woman then reaches for the light switch and turns on the hallway lights. Now that the lights are on and she can see his features, Rocki see's the man that Charlie Donovan has grown into. He still has an almost baby face like demeanor but his eyes look aged. He still spikes his hair and he has a very athletic build to him now as opposed to the scrawny young man she met in Cancun all those years ago. Judging by his uniform he is a law officer of some kind, police or sheriff's department.

Charlie likewise takes in the features of the woman no longer hugging the wall. Her hair is longer, still black and she has filled out a bit more but he would never forget her in a million years. "Rocki Mahan." A stupefied Charlie Donovan states. "I never thought I would run into you again. What are you two doing here?" Charlie asks the pair as he un-cocks his pistol and returns it to its holster.

"That is a very complex story." Rocki says putting her weapon on safe and placing it back in its shoulder holster.

"Hold that thought." Charlie says pausing Rocki's story. "Chloe I know in my heart that you didn't do it but as a law officer I have to ask anyways... please tell me you didn't kill your husband." Charlie says.

"Kill my husband?" Chloe repeats in a questioning tone. "Why would you think that I killed my husband?"

"911 received a call from one of your neighbors about screams coming from the house. I and my partner went to your home to investigate the call. When we arrived we found the door open and his dead body in the hallway." Charlie explained. "When we tried to get a hold of you at your job your boss said you never returned from your lunch break. You are currently a person of interest."

"I was kidnapped by the man that shot and killed Sean. Up until just under an hour ago I was in the desert held at gunpoint until Jackson and Rocki arrived." Explained Chloe.

"Wait... Jackson's here too?" Questioned Charlie. He was surprised as he had not actually talked to nor heard from his friend in over a year.

"He hasn't returned yet but he should be here any time now." Rocki informs Charlie Donovan.

"Wait... so why did Jackson and Rocki have to save you? For that matter how did they save you?" Charlie asked the pair.

"You should probably sit down Charlie, this is a very long story." Chloe states.

Rocki looks back and forth between the pair of cousins and then comes to a realization based on what was not being said. "Chloe, I'm just taking a guess here but Charlie doesn't know about Jackson yet does he?" Rocki asks her friend.

"No... no he does not." Chloe replies.

"What... what don't I know?" Charlie asks the pair in a frustrated tone.

"Ok... Charlie, we need food. Order Chinese... wait, is Chinese ok Rocki?" Chloe asks trying to distract herself from the realization that she may be charged with killing her husband.

"Chinese is fine." Rocki states. She opts for Shrimp Lo Mein. Charlie begins to call ahead and places the order. After he hangs up Rocki has another epiphany. "Wait, we didn't order any food for Jackson."

"I ordered for him." Chloe informs the dark haired woman. "If there is one thing I did manage to learn about Jackson after three years together it was what his favorite restaurants, and what his favorite meals are."

Twenty-five minutes after Charlie Donovan placed the order he had returned to Jackson Fuller's home carrying white plastic bags of delicious smelling Chinese food. The group moved to the back of Jackson's home and sat in the dinning room area. Chloe had collected four plates and silverware sets and laid them out while Charlie passed out the food, then divided the egg rolls and other little odds and ends. Rocki watched as the last thing Charlie put down were a pair of chop sticks at Jackson's spot.

"Sometimes he prefers to use these instead of silverware." Explained Charlie.

"I've noticed." Rocki tells her friends.

"Sooo as much as I want to know that whole story about Jackson Fuller it would be rude of me not to ask what you've been up to for the past twelve years Rocki. How are you and what have you been up to?" Begins Charlie.

"Well the first part of my story ties into Jackson's. I'm sure you already knew Jackson and I broke up after I finished college..." Rocki started. She saw Charlie acknowledge this remark.

"After graduating college with a degree in animal science I returned to San Francisco and went to school to follow in my stepdad's footsteps and become a veterinarian, After I graduated and received my Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine I joined my stepfather's practice. Ironically that meant that I was also working for Jackson's mother as they were partners." Explained Rocki.

"That's cool, how is DJ by the way?" Charlie asks nonchalantly as he takes a bite of sweet and sour chicken.

"I haven't seen her for a few months now but she... wait? How did you know his mother's nickname? I thought Jackson didn't talk about his family while he was here?" Rocki inquired looking at the Donovan cousins.

Charlie looks at Chloe who shrugs and says, "You put your foot in it Charlie, you answer the question."

Charlie wipes his mouth after taking a bite, swallows his food and then answers, "Well about three years ago I came here to investigate vehicles reported at the house. Jackson was still living here at the the time but he had told me he was going to be out of town for a considerable amount of time. I stopped by to see what was going on and I found Chloe's mother, Chloe and DJ Hale sitting in this very spot." Explained Charlie.

"When was this?" Rocki demanded to know.

"It was the weekend before Memorial day... May of 2034." Chloe informed Rocki.

"So that means... DJ knew where Jackson was for the past three years. She never told anyone that." Rocki says aloud.

"She told Jackson." Chloe informs Rocki.

"How do you know that?" Both Charlie and Rocki ask the girl at the same time.

"That is part of the overall story that we haven't gotten into yet." Chloe told the pair before putting a bite of chicken chow mein in her mouth.

"I don't really have anything note worthy to add after going to work for my dad and DJ. Jackson's younger brother Max is a vet too and worked with us until recent events that we will cover." Rocki states.

"OK, so who wants to start?" Charlie asks his cousin and friend.

"Let's finish eating first... I don't want you choking when you get the surprises of your life." Chloe insists before getting into the convoluted tale of Jackson Fuller's life.

~ 1730 hrs ~

After dinner was eaten and the garbage and the dishes were dealt with the trio returned to the living room couch. Charlie was particularly antsy as he was currently the only person not privy to the entire story of Jackson Fuller's life. He had always guessed there was more to Jackson Fuller since he returned to the Donovan's lives but he didn't know how good or bad that information was.

"Rocki, would you care to do the honors." Chloe asked her friend.

"Well Charlie, the story began prior to Jackson finishing his computer coding program. I don't know if you realize how skilled he was, I didn't until this all came about but he was apparently so gifted that when the job offers began rolling in that he was approached by the Central Intelligence Agency." Rocki says, pausing for a moment to let that fact sink in.

Chloe then cuts in, "Jackson told me that he initially had no plans to take their offer as it involved a great deal of traveling at a moments notice for the the same amount of pay that the other companies were offering him."

"Ok..." Charlie said confused.

"Apparently there was a director that was greatly impressed with Jackson's skills and abilities and decided he needed to... entice Jackson to change his mind." Chloe stated.

"The Director, as Jackson refers to him, had Jackson's psyche profile and using the information from that profile sent a special agent to my school to... he caused the breakup between Jackson and myself." Rocki states. Charlie sees the distress on Rocki's face as she admits this. He starts putting some of the pieces together but is silent as he knows there is more to this story.

"Jackson was such an emotionally wreak after their breakup that he fled San Francisco and joined the CIA." Chloe says taking over for Rocki who is having trouble continuing the story.

"While we don't have a large amount of details for years one through six I know he spent a great deal of time overseas. Its at that point that our part of the story picks up in March of 2031."

"After a particularly long tour overseas the CIA sent Jackson and his team here to Phoenix." Chloe says. Charlie starts to chuckle slowly, then he breaks out into a fit of laughter at Chloe's statement.

"What's so funny?" Rocki can't help but ask.

Charlie continues to laugh for another minute before he finally manages to catch his breath. "I'm sorry Rocki. You would have to have seen these guys... Jackson introduced them to us as his..." Charlie snickers again, "installation crew. He said that they did all the manual labor."

Chloe thought about it for a moment and then even she had to laugh at the realization that they actually bought Jackson's lie.

"I guess you had to be there." Rocki says as she has no idea what these people look like.

"So... Jackson shows up in Phoenix and as fate would have it, my entire family was at the restaurant that he and his team opted to have dinner at." Chloe tells Rocki.

"Wait, are you sure it was chance? This is Jackson Fuller, super spy we're talking about now." Rocki asks.

"It was chance... but we'll get to how I know in a bit. Anyways, I spent the next two days with Jackson driving him around town while he looked for a place to live. It was Sunday evening and we were about to have dinner when Jackson spotted this house. Something about it drew him here and so he said that he wanted to take a look at it. We liked what we saw and Jackson managed to talk the Realtor down to a price Jackson found acceptable and he bought it." Chloe said.

"So when did you two start dating?" Rocki asked the other woman.

"Pretty much instantly, but they didn't officially confirm it to the family for two weeks." Charlie chimed in. Chloe shot him a dirty look. "You know it's true Chloe and I wanted to participate in this round robin."

"Anyways... the only real change we made was that Jackson and I painted that front room and it was my room to keep things in as my job was down the road so I spent more time here than at my apartment. Things changed during our six month anniversary as the lease on my apartment was coming up. Over dinner I mentioned to Jackson that we could share expenses and asked if I could move in as his roommate."

"Cute."

"Jackson rejected the roommate idea though." Chloe informs Rocki.

"Really?" Rocki asks surprised.

"He didn't want a roommate, he wanted to share this house and his life with me, and then he proposed." Chloe stated straight faced. "I moved into the house within the week... and I don't mean into the front room."

"I get it." Rocki says. She had obviously figured out the extent of their relationship as Rocki easily remembered how enamored Chloe had been with Jackson during their trip to Cancun.

"We were happy during our tenure together, our biggest problem was his job... the job he couldn't tell me the truth about." Explained Chloe.

"Did you suspect anything... hinky?" Rocki asked.

"There were times I thought he might be cheating on me... but unlike most guys that "leave town" Jackson actually had a passport indicating that he was actually out of the country during the times he was gone and those stamps can't be faked... or so I thought." Chloe told the pair.

"So you were engaged almost the entire duration of your relationship?" Rocki asked checking to see if she was following the story correctly.

"Yes. We actually had three different wedding dates but we had to reschedule two of them due to unexpected events." Explained Chloe.

"Meaning the CIA sent him out on assignment the two times you were supposed to get married." Rocki states.

"So it would seem. Third time was supposed to be the charm, and he had actually put in a vacation request well in advance this time with the understanding that if they tried to pull him in on that date that he would be resigning effective the first of the month." Chloe told Rocki.

"Sooo what happened?" Rocki inquired.

"March happened..." Chloe says. It was now Chloe's turn to get emotional. Rocki could see tears forming in her friends eyes.

"I can cover most of this." Charlie tells Rocki. "Jackson had another out of town assignment. Normally his return is either on time or within a week of his return date. March however set a new record in that Jackson was overdue by three whole weeks." Charlie tells Rocki.

"Three weeks... I can't imagine what that must have been like not knowing if something bad had happened to him... and that was without knowing the kind of life he was leading." Rocki tells the pair.

"At the end of the third week I was so worried I did the one thing that Jackson told me was a last resort... I called his mother to see if she had heard from Jackson. As we were within six months of our wedding I had hoped that he was in contact with his family by now as one of the first things we were supposed to work on when he returned was our revised guest list. Imagine my surprise..." Chloe's sarcasm is very apparent at this point, "to find that not only was she not aware of Jackson's status, but she had not been in contact with him in over nine years."

"DJ and I talked for a short while and after that I knew I had to talk to Jackson about the state of our relationship. I knew I loved him, and he loved me but his secretive nature, coupled with the fact he was estranged from his family for no obvious reason... I just couldn't take it any longer."

"So you confronted him I take it?" Rocki asks.

"Not exactly." Charlie stated.

"What does that mean?" Rocki wonders aloud.

"Jackson returned the next day and I was initially so relived that he was home I forgot everything. That was until we started talking about the wedding and he completely skirted around the issues of a guest list. I gave him several chances to discuss it but when he avoided discussing his family I simply lost it. I didn't tell him what I had done but I told him that I was fed up with the secretive nature of his life and job. I told him I wanted him to be honest with me and tell me what was going on and why he was missing for three weeks." Declared Chloe.

"I'm sure that went over well." Rocki says remember how Jackson was super evasive prior to coming clean with his family back in December.

"Actually, his response was that he would tell me everything that I wanted to know, but in order to do so we had to go get married right away." Explained Chloe.

"Excuse me..."

"Yeah that was my response too." Chloe told her friend. "I asked him why and he said it's a clause in his contract, that we had to be married in order to discuss his work. I immediately saw red. That was pretty much the final straw for me and I took off his ring and handed it back to him." Chloe stated.

"We moved her out before the week was over." Charlie added.

"Wow..." Rocki says taking in all the information she was just given.

"Yeah... then we get to May 20th." Charlie states.

"I'm guessing that is the incident... the weekend that Jackson's mother was here. She told all of us she had a work conference." Rocki informed the Donovans.

"Yeah, she mentioned that." Charlie said.

"DJ and I continued to talk, even after my breakup with Jackson. We made plans for her to drive up here. We had dinner Friday evening, the night she arrived. We spent the evening talking about Jackson and his family, we showed each other pictures as we told one another stories. She only spent the one night at a hotel, She wanted to see this place and as Jackson was on one of his "outings" I didn't see the harm in allowing her to stay here for the rest of her trip." Chloe tells Rocki.

"So Saturday I brought my mother to meet DJ, we drove here and gave her the grand tour. Halfway through the day..."

"I showed up." Charlie took over. "I was Jackson's designated house sitter for the most part. I would come by on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday to collect his mail and put it in the mail holders and make sure everything was ok. Much like today, they scared the hell out of me because I wasn't paying attention. That's when I met DJ. She basically repeated everything that she had told Chloe the night before but at least this time Chloe's mother and I both learned about Jackson's life."

"DJ left for home the next morning, I locked up the house for Charlie as he had to work on Sunday." Chloe stated.

"Now we get to the reason for current events." Rocki states taking over the story again. "While I don't know all of the details..."

"Shocking." Chloe adds.

"Very... the details he gave us were that he discovered that his boss, the man who arranged to have you abducted, was running clandestine operations in the U.S. and had even killed some American citizens as part of these operations. Jackson discovered this but did not know at first that it was his boss behind it. After being told to drop it Jackson eventually stole the contents of his computer and several classified files. Unfortunately he was discovered and his boss "burned" him." Rocki told the Donovans.

"Meaning what?" Charlie asked.

"They locked his bank accounts, froze his credit, flagged his id's and passports, sent federal agents, assassins and mercenaries in an attempt to get the files back."

"Ouch." Charlie winced.

"It was December 11th of last year when Jackson finally returned home. He came stumbling through the front door after his grandfather's birthday party. He said he was home and then passed out in his mother's arms." Rocki tells the pair.

"Because he was shot." Chloe offers.

"Yes, he had been chased down by some gunmen and they shot him twice in the right shoulder blade. When he arrived at the house he was bleeding out so we called 911 and he spent three days unconscious in the hospital. When he finally woke up he broke out of the hospital, stole away in my car and forced me to take him to collect some belongings from a storage unit to help him survive."

Charlie was kind of at a loss for words. Rocki had spun what most would consider a far fetched tale. The problem was he totally believed every word of it. The statement that Jackson was basically a spy explained so much. "Chloe... you obviously knew before Rocki showed up here that Jackson was in the CIA... when and how did you find out?" Charlie asked.

"Jackson showed up at my apartment just before my wedding." Chloe answers. "He felt that I deserved to know why he had been so secretive and was sorry that our relationship fell apart because of those secrets."

"So you knew he had returned home." Rocki asked her friend.

"Yes. He told me the whole story from the moment of your break up until just before showing up at my apartment. He also told me that he knew I met his mother, something he had learned from her." Chloe announced.

"So why is Chloe's husband dead and why was she abducted?" Charlie inquired.

"Anthony Miles, the former C.I.A. director that's been plastered all over the news... that was Jackson's boss. Jackson gave key files to a U.S. Senator and had his department, the one that Jackson use to work for, shut down."

"Let me guess based on the news... his boss escaped federal custody, killed the Senator, and went after Jackson." Charlie deduced.

"Correct. The problem he encountered was that the moment the Director was arrested Jackson had his entire extended family go into hiding. He created new identities with fake passports, provided them with communication tools, gave them all a large amount of money to build their new lives and instructions on what to do and where they could go. We have all been living under the radar since March and doing such a good job that the director apparently only had one option..."

Charlie turned his head to look at his cousin. He held out his arms as he saw Chloe finally loose her composure of the loss of her husband, something she has been holding in ever since she was abducted. The entire time that she was held hostage she had managed to remain strong because she knew that Jackson would come save her, even at the cost of his own life. Now that she was safe, that everything was out in the open, she allowed herself to feel, and to grieve. She felt another set of arms around her and realized that Rocki was lending her sympathies.

"Ok... So how do we clear Chloe's name?" Charlie asks.

"Leave that to me." Jackson Fuller announces making his presence known to the trio. No one had heard him even unlock the back door and walk in, but then he wouldn't be very good at his job if people knew his comings and goings.

"Jackson... what the hell? Where have you been?" Rocki asks almost running to him. She hugs her lover who hugs her in return and kisses her cheek.

"That is a story for another time." Jackson says releasing his lady love. "Chloe... I can't tell you how sorry I am that the Director dragged you into this." Jackson says.

"It's not your fault... Thank you for coming to save me." Chloe says as she hugs her ex-fiance.

"You never have to thank me for wanting to keep you safe." Jackson tells her and gives her a peck on her temple. "Listen, I have been awake for almost thirty-six hours without any sleep. I'm going to wash up real quick and crash, after which we will discuss why it took me so long to show up. Chloe, I highly advise you to stay here as you are a person of interest in your husband's death until I can get that situation resolved. Charlie, nice to see you, feel free to crash out on the other couch. Chloe knows where all the spare pillows and sheets are kept."

Jackson didn't even bother to get something to eat, he'd eat in the morning. Jackson walked to his master bathroom and ran the water while he ditched his clothes in the hamper. Fortunately for him, he had plenty of clothes to change into as this was his home and he never packed anything up before he was burned. He stepped into the warm water and washed the desert off of his body and out of his hair. Once he was clean he turned off the water, pulled on a pair of boxers and the first t-shirt he found in his closet dresser, and then imitating Rocki the night before climbed into the very inviting bed and passed out. The events of the past thirty-six hours were weighing heavily on his mind, and they would have to be addressed... tomorrow.

After Jackson's abrupt arrival and announcement things calmed down in the house. The trio cleaned up their mess, put the unused dishes away and while Rocki and Charlie chatted about a few little odds and ends Chloe went to the closet and pulled out the spare blanket and pillow and set herself up on the couch.

As she had spent the past thirty plus hours as a captive, still wearing the same clothes from the previous day Chloe excused herself and went to the secondary bathroom and took a shower as well. Despite no one having lived there Jackson always insisted on stocking spare toiletries so Chloe's preferred shampoo and soap were still stocked in the bathroom. As she was coming out of the bathroom, she had on one of Jackson's guest robes (the house was fully stocked after all) and a towel wrapped around her now clean long flowing brown hair.

"Ladies, I will actually go home tonight, but I will be back in the morning to see what we are going to do about your situation." Charlie announces. "Chloe, I'll try and swing by your place and grab some clothes for you." Charlie states.

The two women walk Charlie to the door and wave goodbye to him. Once he drives off the two lock the front door and Chloe arms the alarm system. "Better safe than sorry." Chloe states.

Rocki begrudgingly agrees with her statement.

"I have a spare night shirt that you can use tonight Chloe. I passed out last night in my clothes so I still have another for myself." Rocki tells her friend.

"Thanks, I can really use a change of clothes." Chloe states.

Rocki went to the master bedroom and quietly collected her luggage bag from the master bedroom as Jackson was considerate enough to bring her bag in from the car after she had fallen asleep after their early morning arrival. As the majority of the time after she woke up from their long drive was spent preparing for Jackson's showdown with his old boss, Rocki had not had time to put any of her clothes in the dresser. Rocki pulled out the two night shirts she had with her and laid them out for Chloe to decide which she would prefer to wear. Chloe opted for the Navy blue long sleep shirt that Rocki had brought. Rocki smiled internally as the black sleep shirt that Chloe had not chosen was her personal favorite. It was old, and a bit worn but it had always been a favorite of hers, particularly since it was a Valentine's day gift from Jackson. Chloe turns her back to Rocki and disrobes. She then removes her hair towel and pulls the shirt over her head.

"If you give me your clothes I can put them in the wash with mine. I'm doing a small load so I can get them in the dryer before I go to bed tonight." Chloe offers.

"Can you pass me your robe?" Rocki asks. Chloe hands her the slightly damp robe and Rocki turns about and removes her clothes. She places the robe on and hands Chloe her dirty clothes. "Do you think there's still enough hot water for a decent shower?" Rocki asks.

"Jackson bought the largest water heater he could find, between the two of us and the washing machine we still haven't used half of the water in the heater." Chloe informs Rocki.

Rocki takes her leave and uses the bathroom that Chloe had used so as not to disturb Jackson's sleep. He tended to be a light sleeper, despite the fact that he should be exhausted, so the less noise she made the better. For a secondary bathroom Rocki had to admit it was a good size. Not anywhere near as nice as the master bath of course, but it was adequate. Roxanne managed to complete her ten minute shower with the lovely massage spray without a dip in the water temperature. She turned off the water, dried herself off. When she was completely dry she put her sleep shirt on, wrapped her hair in a towel and rejoined Chloe in the living room. Chloe was resting on the couch propped up against her bedtime pillow awaiting her friends return.

"Ok Rocki, we both know that there are questions we want to ask but didn't want to do so in front of Jackson and Charlie. Why don't you ask your first question." Chloe said to the raven haired woman.

"While I have a bunch of little questions, I guess the biggest would be... How could you just give up on Jackson six months before your wedding? I mean... you had him. In all of our time together he never even asked me to marry him... and you had him." Rocki states.

Chloe sighed heavily. She had thought about this very thing ever since she walked out of this house three years ago. "Honestly... I let my anger over his secretive nature and the situation with his family overrule my better judgment."

"And you never came back to try and work things out with him? You just gave up?" Rocki continued questioning the brown haired woman.

"I actually did come back... one time." Chloe states. Rocki watches as she just sits in her corner of the couch saying nothing.

"And...?"

"He wasn't here... The story of my life really. I took a stroll through his house, it was almost exactly like it is right now save for the Acura next to his SUV." Explained Chloe. "I walked into the master bedroom, sat down on his side of the bed and collapsed into tears. I felt like the house did... empty. With the exception of bringing DJ here I never came back until today. Jackson let me go, so I let him go."

Rocki sat there absorbing her friends statement. She was sure she knew why Jackson had simply... given up. It was how he was conditioned. Lola, Chloe... most of all herself... they were always the ones ending things. Jackson had never once broken up with a girl. Sure he made mistakes early on, he was partially at fault with Chloe... but he was always the person getting dumped.

"Something on your mind Rocki?" Chloe asked as Rocki sat silently on the couch.

"I'm just realizing how damaged Jackson is... and my role in that damage." Rocki declares.

"I'm not following you." Chloe says.

"I'll explain in a bit. Why don't you ask the question you really want answered, we'll come back to that one later." Rocki replied.

"Very well... when did the two of you get back together?" Chloe asks.

"March 15th. The day that Jackson sent his family and friends into hiding. He gave me the choice of going into hiding alone or going into hiding with him. I chose him." Rocki answers.

"That's the choice I would have taken in your place." Chloe says.

"Even knowing what you know now?" Questions Rocki.

"Yes. As I said, it was the secrets that truly killed us, with that obstacle gone... I would have lived in a mobile home with him if I needed to." Chloe adamantly states.

"I guess that brings me to my next question then... would you have been tempted to leave your fiance for Jackson if he had asked you to run away with him the night before your wedding?" Rocki asked. Ever since she learned of Chloe's involvement with Jackson and the fact they had been engaged she had wondered what was going through the other woman's mind when he showed up the night before her wedding.

"I loved Sean... but Jackson was my first... well he was my first everything. I was extremely shy before meeting him. I've had a few boyfriends in my life but I never really been in love until Jackson came back into my life... ever. But to answer your question... yes... if he had asked I would have run away with him." Chloe took a moment after admitting that truth before she returned her gaze to her friend.

"We both know what you want to ask me... what you really want to ask... so ask it." Rocki tells her friend.

"Ok... how could you have given up Jackson all those years ago. You had him, you knew he loved you and you just threw it all away. How could you do that on a whim?" Chloe asked.

"Honestly... I was the opposite of you. I was terrified at the time of marrying Jackson. Not because I didn't love him... loving him is very easy. No, I was afraid that I would end up like my mother and ruin my relationship with Jackson and we would end up divorced. My mother went through three husbands in the span of sixteen years... watching her and seeing how she handled her relationships with her husbands... it kind of soured me on the concept of marriage." Rocki tells Chloe.

"Aren't we a pair..." Chloe says to Rocki.

"How so?"

"You were afraid of marrying the love of your life, and I gave up on the love of mine... and they're the same guy." Chloe explained.

"Yeah... I guess."

"Now... care to explain how you helped break Jackson?" Chloe asked.

"While I play a large part of it, I can't take all of the credit. Did he ever mention his very first girlfriend, Lola Wong?" Rocki asks.

"He mentioned her once. He said she was his first childhood girlfriend... but he made sure to clarify that he considered you his first REAL girlfriend." Chloe replied.

"I only met her one time, at the wedding of Jackson's mother, aunt and housemate. She was cute... thinner and leaner than either of us. I would classify her as an IT girl if you know what I mean." Rocki explained.

"I follow you."

"Lola broke up with Jackson during a family holiday get together in front of his entire family. Needless to say, he didn't take it very well. In fact, Ramona guessed how badly he would take it and called it word for word apparently. Jackson had to learn to quickly accept the breakup and as I looked back on my dumping him during our freshman year... I could see how it hurt him even more. He handled it far better than his first breakup... which I guess explains why when I ended things after I finished college he handled it in the only way he knew how... he left." Rocki sadly states.

"Now you lost me." Chloe says.

"Simply put, Jackson had been conditioned to just let the person go... He went from being an emotional basket case to guarded and emotionally distant. That's why when you gave him his ring back he didn't even argue with you. He just accepted the outcome and moved on."

"So we're all to blame then." Chloe says.

"In a manner of speaking... yes. Makes me wonder why he let Jessica go... she was the only one that never left him." Rocki tells Chloe.

"I can answer that one... from what you've told me it's because he never loved her. He said he cared for her, but he never told her he loved her." Chloe explained.

"I guess so." Rocki replied. She still wasn't one hundred percent convinced that was the answer, but she accepted it for now.

"I think I'm going to go to bed now. Who knows what we are in for tomorrow." Chloe announces.

"That sounds like a plan. Where are the spare pillows and blankets?" Rocki asks her friend. Chloe looks at her in a questioning tone.

"I think Jackson needs a little time to himself. He's had a rough thirty plus hours and I don't want to risk waking him up." Rocki tells her friend.

"He's still a light sleeper I take it?" Chloe asks. She knows exactly how light a sleeper Jackson can be from their time together.

"Yes." Rocki replies. It's strange to hear another woman reply to questions and answers of such a personal nature about the man she loves. Rocki just lets it go as the only reason Chloe knows the answers is because she set the events into motion that brought them to this moment in time.

Rocki went to the linen closet that Chloe points to, collects a pillow and a blanket and sets herself up on the couch adjacent to Chloe's. The two women said their good nights and with the lights out the two slowly drifted off to sleep.

To Be Continued in Fuller House: After Burners


End file.
